Nine years in jail for woman in Port Richmond Center abduction case

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Port Richmond Center woman accused of abducting another woman off a Rosebank street over a $130 debt cut a plea deal yesterday, a day after her co-defendant was sentenced in the case.

Tamika Atanda, 31, pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a felony count of second-degree kidnapping stemming from the bizarre April 6 incident, in which police rescued the victim.

Under the deal, Ms. Atanda will be sentenced to nine years behind bars on March 22, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. It’s the same term imposed Tuesday on her co-defendant, Robert Jemmott, 23, of Stapleton.

The unusual episode unfolded about 7:15 p.m. at the corner of Bay Street and Lynhurst Avenue.

According to court documents and a law enforcement source, Ms. Atanda and Jemmott got into a beef with a man who owed Jemmott money. Ms. Atanda punched the man, then dragged his wife, who was with him, into a car.

The suspects drove off, and bound and gagged the woman. They telephoned the man, demanded $130, and threatened to harm his spouse.

They never got the chance.

Eagle-eyed cops nabbed them about an hour later in Stapleton after the man reported the abduction to police.

A loaded .38-caliber handgun was found in the car’s glove compartment.

In January, a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, convicted Jemmott of second-degree criminal weapon possession. The panel acquitted him of the more serious charge of first-degree kidnapping.

Besides prison time, Ms. Atanda is subject to two and a half years’ post-release supervision.

Her lawyer did not immediately return a telephone call yesterday seeking comment.

Assistant District Attorney Kathleen DiGiovanni is prosecuting the case.